enhancing food security and physical activity for maori, pacific and ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income PeoplesMethodsA brief literature scan was undertaken of the HEHA Knowledge Library and ANA nutritionand physical activity database to identify relevant New Zealand community-basedinitiatives addressing the cost of healthy food. The Scopus database and GoogleScholar were also searched to identify local and international literature.Results: Literature ScanOverviewA review of community-based initiatives (or local food projects) in the UK in 2002 foundover 400 food-related projects. 1 The most common were cooking skills and cookinginitiatives, food cooperatives, community cafes, school breakfasts, provision of fruit inschools, gardening schemes or allotments, and transport schemes. While they focusedon low-income communities, the projects were not necessarily developed to addressfood security. Sustainability of such projects was identified as a key issue, as well as theneed for a coherent policy focus and an integrated approach to issues of food accessand food security. 2The key factors affecting sustainability of food projects have been identified from earlierwork in the UK, and should be considered when setting up community-based initiatives. 3These factors were reconciling different agendas, access to long-term funding,community involvement, professional support, credibility of the project to professionalsand the community, shared ownership, dynamic individuals committed to the project, andresponsiveness to changing agendas and needs. Conversely, opposing or changingagendas, unstable funding, lack of support, only meeting limited needs, and exclusiveownership hindered sustainability of food projects.Food cooperativesA cooperative is a business entity that is owned and controlled by its members, and isrun for the benefit of its members. 4 There are two main types of cooperatives:participatory and consumer cooperatives, which usually exist in one of three mainforms: 5• buying clubs, which do not have their own premises, but instead meet regularlyto order food in case lots at wholesale prices;• traditional co-operatives, where members (who may also be the producers) sellproducts at market rates and receive a share of the dividends; and• participatory cooperatives, in which members work a certain number of hours ina food co-op store.Food cooperatives were suggested by provincial Māori in the ENHANCE focus groupsas an intervention to improve food security. From interviews conducted with low-incomehouseholds in New Zealand, Parnell 6 found that five of the 40 households belonged to afood cooperative. Cooperatives purchased foods in bulk, which minimised the cost toparticipating households. Traditionally, the major motives for joining food co-ops such asthese have been low prices and improved food quality. 5 The type of cooperative likely tobe most relevant to low-income households in New Zealand are buying clubs. Anexample of a buying club is the Whaingaroa Organic Kai cooperative in Raglan whichsupplies 38 member families. 7 The co-op is run by one person, who purchases food in97
Enhancing Food Security and Physical Activity for Māori, Pacific and Low-income Peoplesbulk at wholesale prices and sells it to members at the same price. A monthlymembership fee is charged based on the amount spent on food at the co-op per month.Food cooperatives are more common in some other countries. Moore 8 has noted thegrowth of a ‘new’ food cooperative movement in Scotland, which has arisen almostunnoticed. These are emerging from community initiatives, with groups of disadvantagedconsumers joining together to bulk purchase food, either from wholesalers or direct fromfarmers. 8 9 The cooperatives range in size from 10 to 500 members, and are mostly runby volunteers, although some have been successful in obtaining external start-upfunding. 8 However, they face difficulties associated with relying on volunteers,transporting and storing stock, difficulties finding a venue, finding a consistent productsource, and uncertainty over funding. 8 9 In some cases, social work departments haveprovided funding for food cooperatives as well as providing training and support.A different format for a food cooperative exists in the Burlington Community Farm in theUS. 10 Over 500 households pay US$400 at the beginning of each growing season for ashare in the farm’s harvest. The farm is managed by an experienced and paid farmmanager. Twice a week, members are able to go to the farm to collect or harvest theirproduce. In this example, the cost of produce is not significantly less than that fromsupermarkets; however the quality is likely to be superior. It has been noted thatmembers of the farm co-op were more likely to be of higher socioeconomic statuscompared with the average in the surrounding area. This was attributed to therequirement for a $400 up-front fee. Thus, formats which require large up-front fees areless likely to have a positive effect on equity.Gardening projects (other than community gardens)Having a home vegetable garden has been associated with higher levels of householdfood supplies, 11 better access to fresh food, and improved diets or increased fruit and12 13vegetable consumption. A study in rural America found that food insecurity withhunger was associated with not having a home garden. 14 All the ENHANCE focusgroups, other than the Tongan group, proposed gardening as an intervention to improvefood security.Some New Zealand community-based initiatives have focused on home gardens. TheGood Kai Project in Maraenui provides learning and support for whānau wanting to growtheir own kai. 15 It is driven by the community and health workers who recognised theneed for better access to good quality fruit and vegetables. Programme participantshave stated that they now eat more fruit and vegetables, feel healthier and more active,and enjoy spending time with whānau in the garden. Securing enough funding to deliverthe programme to all who want it has been a major challenge for the project.The Grab a Bite That’s Right programme in Whanganui used a number of communitybasedinitiatives to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. 16 One of the strategiesinvolved growing and distributing 4,000 apple trees and 3,000 tomato seedlings to thecommunity. Another of their initiatives was a ‘fruit drive’ where people donated excessproduce from home gardens to the local food bank. They have also set up nutrition andgardening workshops and edible gardens in kōhanga reo.Schools and kōhanga reo are increasingly becoming sites for establishing ediblegardens, such as the Martinborough School Kitchen Garden. 17 Students are involved ingrowing and preparing produce from the garden, which is aligned to the school98
Page 1 and 2:
ENHANCING FOOD SECURITYAND PHYSICAL
Page 3:
Enhancing Food Security and Physica
Page 8 and 9:
Page 10 and 11:
Page 12 and 13:
Page 14 and 15:
Page 16 and 17:
Page 18 and 19:
Page 20 and 21:
Page 22 and 23:
Page 24 and 25:
Page 26 and 27:
Page 28 and 29:
Page 30 and 31:
Page 32 and 33:
Page 34 and 35:
Page 36 and 37:
Page 38 and 39:
Page 40 and 41:
Page 42 and 43:
Page 44 and 45:
Page 46 and 47:
Page 48 and 49:
Page 50 and 51: Enhancing Food Security and Physica
Page 150 and 151:
Page 152 and 153:
Page 154 and 155:
Page 156 and 157:
Page 158 and 159:
Page 160 and 161:
Page 162 and 163:
Page 164 and 165:
Page 166 and 167:
Page 168 and 169:
Page 170 and 171:
Page 172 and 173:
Page 174 and 175:
Page 176 and 177:
Page 178 and 179:
Page 180 and 181:
Page 182 and 183:
Page 184 and 185:
Page 186 and 187:
Page 188 and 189:
Page 190 and 191:
Page 192 and 193:
Page 194 and 195:
Page 196 and 197:
Page 198 and 199:
Page 200 and 201:
Page 202 and 203:
Page 204 and 205:
Page 206 and 207:
Page 208 and 209:
Page 210 and 211:
Page 212 and 213:
Page 214 and 215:
Page 216 and 217:
Page 218 and 219:
Page 220 and 221:
Page 222 and 223:
Page 224 and 225:
Page 226 and 227:
show all

enhancing food security and physical activity for maori, pacific and ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?